Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich was recently named the next Team USA basketball coach, and he already has one supporter in NBA superstar Kevin Durant.
Popovich, who is set to take over for Duke University coach Mike Krzyzewski after the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, will coach the team through 2020, which will include the 2019 FIBA World Cup and the 2020 Olympics.
Durant, who will be 31 by the 2020 Olympics rolls around, has plenty of international experience, having played at the 2010 FIBA World Championship and leading Team USA to its first FIBA World Championship since 1994, being named MVP of the tournament in the process.
He also played an instrumental role in Team USA defending its Olympic title in 2012, setting the record for total points scored in an Olympic basketball tournament, including dropping 30 in the gold medal game against Spain.
In the past, Durant has expressed tremendous respect for Popovich, who he has played under in the All-Star Game, and whose team he has faced multiple times in the NBA playoffs. Durant’s Oklahoma City Thunder beat Popovich’s Spurs in the 2012 Western Conference Finals to advance to the NBA Finals, where they lost to the Miami Heat. In the 2014 NBA playoffs, the Spurs got their revenge, ousting the Thunder in the Western Conference Finals before eviscerating the Miami Heat to capture the franchise’s fifth championship.
Watch below as Durant reacts to finding out about Popovich’s appointment as the next Team USA coach, via Anthony Slater of the Oklahoman.